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Due to the corona crisis, more people are working from home than ever before. You may recognize that you suddenly have to use your private PC much more often for business purposes. Then it is useful to work with multiple accounts. We explain how creating an extra Windows account 10 works, so that work and private life can be better separated.
Are you just writing an article or report, creating one spreadsheet or a business e-mail, suddenly a notification: you have a new e-mail, a Facebook message or an app. Leave it there or take a quick look?
Even if you do the former, that nagging feeling remains: What would it say? And what about those icons of games at the bottom of your Windows bar? They are very seductive there. Want to play a quick game? Is possible. Or is that not so convenient?
Mixing work and private life on your computer ensures that there are permanent temptations lurking. And these can be at the expense of the time you need for important matters or the quality of your work.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to protect yourself against this: provide your computer with a separate work account. You then log in with that account to do your work and have an environment that only has to do with work. We show how this is done Windows 10 works.
Set up work account
After clicking the Windows start button, select the function Settings then click Accounts. In the screen that you then see, click on Family and other users. In this screen you immediately see a crossroads: you can choose between adding family members and ‘Other users’.
The big difference between the two is that you can create and request reports on family members. And that you can, for example, limit access to certain websites for your children. Now we just want to create a work account. So click on Other users.
Microsoft is very keen for everyone to use the company’s services and thus sign in with their Microsoft account. But we don’t want that precisely because we set up a work account with as little distraction as possible. So click in the window that you see here I do not have the login details for this person. And in the next window on Add user without Microsoft account.
You can then give your new account a name. Choose your password and the password hints. Then you will see your brand new account twinkling in the Settings screen under the heading ‘Other users’. Use it!
Switch between accounts
You can switch to your work account by pressing the Windows start button again and clicking your user icon or photo in the left column of the menu. A small menu will roll out where you will see the name of your work account. Click here.
You will be logged out and soon you will be greeted by the configuration sequence of your new account. Wait a few minutes, answer the onscreen setup questions and you’re good to go.
Multiple accounts on Mac
Don’t have a Windows PC but a Mac? Then we will also guide you through that account procedure. First, open the system preferences window on your Mac to create a work account on Mac OS. Then click on the gray button Users and groups.
To add a user in the next window, first click on the padlock at the bottom of the window. Enter your password and click on the plus (+) in the left column. In the next window, select Standard account in the drop-down menu and fill in the other fields. You do not need to create Apple, Google or Microsoft IDs.
Once you hit the button Create user your new account will be created and you can switch. You do this by clicking on your name in the top right of the status bar of your Mac. In the menu that then expands you will see your new work account.
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